Societe des Industries Metallurgiques SA v Bronx Engineering PDF

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Societe des Industries Metallurgiques SA v Bronx Engineering Sellers to deliver machines to buyers, buyers to arrange to shipment, delivery delayed, buyers unable to arrange shipment, whether sellers are entitled to treat contract as repudiated, whether buyers entitled to injunction restraining the sellers from removing the machine out of jurisdiction. Bronx contracted to sell machine to the buyers, a Tunisian company. Sellers were unable to deliver in June and could only do so in late September. By which time the buyers import license had expired. The sellers intimated that if arrangements were not made to enable them to ship machine before December 25 th they would treat the contract as repudiated by the buyers. The sellers had found a Canadian buyer and the machine would be removed from jurisdiction. The buyers successfully got an injunction restraining the sellers from removing the machine out of the jurisdiction. The judge refused to continue the injunction until trial and the buyers appealed.

CA held appeal. They assumed in buyers’ favour they would be successful in establishing a breach of contract and therefore the issue was whether a decree of specific performance of the contract would be granted at trial. The machine was one which was obtainable in the market in the ordinary course upon placing an order and so damages were a sufficient remedy, buyers were not entitle to remedy of specific performance. Buyers claimed the machinery was unique. It would take 9-12 months to manufacture. By this delay they would lose a substansial sum. The main question is if damages here would satisfy the breach of contract or whether only specific performance would. Machinery lacks the unique quality – as decided in Behnke v Bede....